Dental caries is initiated by localized demineralization of hard tissue of the teeth usually by organic acids produced from fermentation of dietary sugar by dental plaque or dentopathogenic bacteria. Even though the prevalence of dental caries has decreased using fluoride in most developed countries, the disease remains a major public health problem. Dental erosion is a chemically drive rapid, normally non-localized process resulting in the irreversible loss of tooth mineral by dietary or regurgitated acids. Gingivial recession abrasion and acid erosion are primary factors that can expose dentin tubules facilitating dentil hypersensitivity. Dental hypersensitivity is due to exposed dentinal tubules through loss of the protective mineralized layer, the cementum. Dental calculus is the unwanted accretion of calcium phosphate minerals on the tooth surface. All these conditions, dental caries, dental erosion, dental hypersensitivity and dental calculus are therefore imbalances in the level of calcium phosphates in the teeth.
Dental erosion may be caused by extrinsic or intrinsic factors. Extrinsic erosion is the result of oral consumption of dietary acids such as acidic beverages or fruit juices and environmental factors such as exposure to airborne contamination or acidic water.
The incidence and severity of dental erosion is on the rise with the increase in the consumption of acidic beverages and juices. The pH and titratable acidity of acidic beverages have been identified as the main causative agents in the initiation and progression of dental erosion. (See, e.g., Lussi, 1995, Caries Res. 29, 349).